Monday, April 22, 2013

We Love Our Volunteers!


            This week, Promising Pages representatives got the opportunity to attend two (delicious!) volunteer appreciation lunches at Albemarle Road and Rama Road Elementary. We were happy to attend and grateful to be included, but with all this appreciation going around, we felt it only fair that we thank our volunteers, too!


            Promising Pages is dependent on volunteers in order to meet the needs of our community. Many wonderful volunteers and groups have supported our efforts this year by donating their time to process, wrap, and distribute books. Your individual and group participation has been instrumental to us in working towards our OMBR goal—we hope to donate over one million books to kids in our community by the end of this year. We could not function at the capacity we do without your continued help and support, and so we thank you, from the bottom of our collective hearts.  

A year and counting...

Through the helpful hands of  HANDS ON CHARLOTTE, Nicole Pulliam discovered Promising Pages in March 2012 and has since been a vital part of the organization. Promising pages shared a similar philosophy as Ms. Pulliam is a former middle school teacher and junior college instructor.
 
"Volunteering has always been a part of my life and since I am an optimistic person I like to encourage children, as well as adults that they can achieve their dreams and/or their endeavors through diligence, determination, persistence, positive outlook, and ambition," said Nicole.  "Outside of volunteering with non-profits, my family and I donate warm meals and beverages to the homeless. During the Christmas holidays. I enjoy giving back to my community by donating my time and efforts to help people and children succeed. Success is not always easy, but through shear will and drive it can be accomplished. It is these philosophies that motivates me to donate my time to Promising Pages."



Nicole says her experience volunteering with Promising Pages has been a very rewarding and productive. She was so please Founder/Executive Director, Kristina Cruise acknowledged that there was a problem with our youth that needed to be brought to the forefront, addressed and tackled.  The fact that so many children have few, if any books at home, and how that can hinder their overall development is something that is not being talked about enough.

Nicole serves as our CAM (Crisis Assistance Ministry) Outreach Coordinator. Each week she helps lead a team of interns and volunteers to distribute our wrapped "presents" via our Promising Pages' Mascot(s) Erma The Bookworma or Erm The Bookworm. "I can personally attest to the impact and the lasting impressions that the interns, volunteers, and the mascots have left on the children, as well as, their parents and/or guardians'. The children and their loved ones are appreciative of the gesture of giving. Some parents ask me how they or their children can volunteer, while others ask how they can get access to additional books and reading resources for their children, and others also ask how they can donate their books to Promising Pages."

Nicole adds it not just about giving books to the children we serve, but about helping mold future visionaries social entrepreneurs that will on day impact our community in their own unique ways. "I have utterly enjoyed working with the high school volunteers and college interns who will be the next line of future leaders to take our place in society. I believe that is fantastic that these young people within our Charlotte community are starting at an early age to know the value of volunteering. I am delighted to work with and be apart of the Promising Pages' team comprised of these amazing individuals, as well as, the great work that they accomplish."

"I would like to personally thank Kristina for bringing me on board and nothing would be complete with properly thanking Marcel Solomon at Hands On Charlotte for allowing me the opportunity to volunteer with Promising Pages."

Thank you Nicole for all that you do for Promising Pages. Happy anniversary!

#welovebooks

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Spring Break at Crisis Assistance Ministry


            Spring Break is a time for rest and relaxation for most people. CMS may have observed their break last week, but Promising Pages was hard at work. It turned out to be a very special week for us and our partner, Crisis Assistance Ministry.
            Promising Pages has been handing out books to children waiting at Crisis Assistance Ministry for a little over two years. They were our very first partner, and test marketed our first set of wrapped "presents." Our volunteers who pass out these book weekly at Crisis Assistance Ministry have had some incredible experiences seeing what our work can do in the community. Our volunteers tend to visit in the morning, about the time a lot of older children are in school. However, because of the school calendar, many of these kids find themselves waiting at Crisis Assistance with their parents over Spring Break.  

          Promising Pages stepped it up for Spring Break. Instead of going just one day for one hour, our volunteers went Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, for three hours a pop! Our volunteers arrived prepared to go above and beyond our normal visits to Crisis Assistance.  After receiving presents from Erma, kids in the waiting area enjoyed an exciting story time with Erma the Bookworma, a coloring contest for prizes, and even got to pick out a big stack of books to take home as their own! Wednesday afternoon, the extra books that were not used for the week were donated to Crisis Assistance’s Free Store, so that even kids who might not have been able to join us can still benefit from the life lesson that Erma teaches: You can do anything you want to do in this world, all it takes is 10 minutes of reading a day, and everyday you are one day closer to that dream life. 
           The program was such a success, we plan to implement the expanded concept to our summer Crisis visit. Join us!

 -#readysetread